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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/23207575">House of Heretics</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/PeachyPansexual/pseuds/PeachyPansexual'>PeachyPansexual</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Destiny (Video Games)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Enemies to Friends to Lovers, If you've been following from my other fic then yeah, Slow Burn, it's fallout maya, she ran away from home, so much slow burn</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-03-19</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-03-19</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-01 09:02:13</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Mature</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Graphic Depictions Of Violence</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>6,425</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/23207575</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/PeachyPansexual/pseuds/PeachyPansexual</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>In a world full of undead superheroes, homicidal aliens, and the divine forces of creation and entropy fighting for dominance over the universe, what's one regular woman to do with her life? </p>
<p>Press her luck, mostly.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>It's a surprise!, Will add as they happen</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>4</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>13</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>House of Heretics</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>The Enemy of My Enemy<br/>...Will still probably shoot you in the back when you're clear.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>They were running. It happened out of nowhere; Maya and Ewan had been enjoying dinner and suddenly the roof collapsed on their tiny cabin and exploded into splinters. They'd barely had time to grab their bug-out bags before Hive Thrall had poured out of what looked like a rough-carved meteor and flooded the area. She was being half dragged through the underbrush, stumbling behind her husband, the hissing and screeching growing steadily louder over the sound of her heart pounding in her ears and the two of them crashing through the foliage. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Ewan took a sudden turn and she stumbled behind him as they wound down into a ravine. Next thing she knew he was pulling her into a rough, panicked kiss, then shoving her back and sending her sprawling into a narrow cave. He tossed his pack in with her, only keeping one of their guns and not nearly enough ammo. He dragged some nearby brush over to try and hide the exit. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"I'll draw them off, stay here. I'll try to come back. I love you." Ewan said breathlessly. Before she could argue, he was gone, shouting at the swarm of Thrall hot on his heels. Gunshots rang out, and through the branches she could see one of them explode into ash before they vanished deeper in the forest. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>********* </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>A day and a half had passed since Ewan had led the Hive away. Maya was cold, not to mention sore from hiding in the same place the entire time. </span>
  <em>
    <span>He hasn't come back.</span>
  </em>
  <span> She had been trying not to think about what that meant. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Either he's taking his sweet goddamn time to loop back around or...</span>
  </em>
  <span> She shook the thought out of her head. He wouldn't abandon her, not on his life, but that was exactly what worried her. </span>
  <em>
    <span>I shouldn't have waited this long. I should have left for him sooner. I need to find him. Now.</span>
  </em>
  <span> She hauled herself up from her hiding place and groaned as half her muscles tried to cramp in protest, but she managed to sling the smallest pack over her shoulder. She tucked the larger one back further into the cave, only taking her old recurve bow and quiver of broadheads from it before she departed. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Search and rescue, don’t pick a fight, just pick them off.</span>
  </em>
  <span> The brush was placed carefully back over the entrance before she straightened up and got herself oriented. </span>
</p>
<p><span>As Maya's eyes adjusted to the light of dusk she recognized exactly where she was; Ewan had marked this cave in particular for initial fallback when they'd found the cabin a couple years back, they had practiced the plan a dozen times, and had even dug it a bit deeper and created an airshaft to vent any campfire smoke a good half-mile away from the entrance. Although that particular plan had had a Fallen attack in mind. Last she'd heard before they left the City, the Hive had only just started dropping seeders on Earth again after centuries of nothing. </span><em><span>Or maybe that's just what they told 'civilians' like me to keep us calm and they were trying to make us stay. Either way it's just our luck, they drop one right on top of our goddamn house in the ass end of nowhere.</span></em> <em><span>Bright side, if you can fucking call it that, is the Fallen would have been harder to track.</span></em> <em><span>Hive made it a lot easier for me.</span></em><span> The Thrall had left a clear trail for her to follow, having bludgeoned through the undergrowth and clawed their way past trees with no thought to hiding their tracks. She tugged her bandana up over her face and clambered up the other side of the ravine to follow their trail. Here and there she spotted discarded bits of their chitinous armor laying in piles of black ash. Shawn had somehow miraculously killed several judging by the remains scattered along the path they'd left. </span><em><span>Huh, maybe they were already roughed up after their landing. Hive were supposed to be tougher than an old revolver.</span></em></p>
<p>
  <span>After a half hour hike, Maya found herself on the edge of a Fallen patrol camp, the sounds of a fight not far off. She tried to see if the trail continued past the encampment but there was no clear path and no signal marker left for her. It ended here and she tried to brace herself for the inevitable. A few angry Fallen battlecries could be heard over the snarling and hissing of Hive Thrall. Maya crept through the underbrush as silently as she could to get an angle on them and her stomach dropped at the scene before her. Dozens of Fallen had been ripped apart by the initial wave of Hive, their remains scattered through the clearing, and even more had followed them; a Wizard floated in the air near the back ranks, shrieking orders to her Acolytes as a Knight engaged the Fallen Captain, separating them from their comrades who were failing against the overwhelming Hive force.  </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Under the alien corpses and stains of black and white, she could see Shawn and the pool of dark red that had already started to dry under his unmoving form.  </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Logic told her to run, get the supplies from the fallback cave and leave the two groups to kill each other while she got booked it back to Bunkertown. Anger had already nocked an arrow and was screaming over the fire lighting up her veins, </span>
  <em>
    <span>KILL THEM! KILL THEM ALL, MAKE THEM PAY! </span>
  </em>
  <span>Her blood sang as she watched the first shot go flying into an Acolyte's back and then sink into the crate it was hiding behind when the creature exploded into ash. Another shot found its mark, then another, and another, and through the red haze in her mind she managed to kill at least six before she was finally seen.  </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Another ear-splitting scream rent the air as the Wizard directed a handful of Thrall back to where Maya was hidden. The last remaining Fallen soldiers took advantage of the break, firing on the backs of their attackers with renewed zeal. Maya loosed a volley at the Wizard to no avail; the arrows bounced harmlessly off of a shimmering barrier around it. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Shit, fire shield.</span>
  </em>
  <span> She didn't have time to dig out one of her treated arrows or one of the little bottles in her bag with as quickly as the remaining two Acolytes and handful of Thrall bore down on her. Her arms ached as she let loose another flurry of arrows, focusing on the closest Thralls and ducking behind a nearby oak when the Acolytes popped out of their own cover. The last Fallen who had been cornered in the camp dealt with the Acolytes with a well-placed shock grenade and Maya only had two more Thrall to deal with. She dropped the first one with a rapid shot to the throat, lined up the arrow for the second, drew back-- </span>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>SNAP</span>
  </em>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>The bowstring broke and whipped out against her face, leaving a nasty cut in its path from the top of her bandana up into her hairline. The pain only fueled her anger and instead of trying to flee, she tackled the oncoming enemy. Literally. Maya wrestled the Thrall to the ground while it was temporarily stunned, grabbed its head, and started smashing it into the rocks underneath them. She didn't notice herself shrieking even louder than the Wizard in the clearing as she rammed the creature's head repeatedly into the stones, reveling in the sound it made as it started to crack, hardly feeling its knife-sharp claws shredding through the leather of her coat and slicing into her arms. With one last feral scream, she drove its head down with a final </span>
  <em>
    <span>CRACK</span>
  </em>
  <span> before it burst into ash.  </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Coughing and waving the cloud away, she scrambled over to her pack and dug out one of the little glass bottles of moonshine, popped the cork, ripped out one of the now exposed scraps of what used to be her shirt to jam it in the neck, fumbled with her lucky lighter, then launched the molotov at the Wizard who had just killed last remaining Dregs of the Fallen camp with a thick haze of poison. The makeshift grenade struck true, eating through the shield and sending the Wizard into a panic to put itself out. She pulled her hunting knife from the bandolier on her quiver and held it at the ready, eager to fling and bury it in the thing's face. The creature lurched and screamed in the air and finally whirled on her only to get an eyeful of steel before it burned away in a cloud of black.  </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>She straightened up for a moment and then doubled back over, retching and gasping for air after the adrenaline had worn off. After catching her breath and getting the worst of the trembling under control, Maya surveyed the clearing and realized that she was the only one left. She hauled her bag back up onto her shoulder and picked up her bow, then made her way into the camp and picked up the knife she'd thrown, grateful to find the blade hadn't chipped after landing on the rocks below. Then she forced her way forward to what was left of her husband. Step after hesitant step carried her, and while part of her wanted to run, she had to do it. </span>
  <em>
    <span>I need to know for sure, to see it myself. I need to know he can't be saved.</span>
  </em>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>And there he was, under a pile of Fallen Dregs, Vandals, and a layer of ash so thick it was a wonder she recognized him from so far off. Shoving the other corpses aside, her heart wrenched and her gut twisted at uncovering just how bad the damage was. </span>
  <em>
    <span>God, it's a miracle he's even in one piece.</span>
  </em>
  <span> He was covered in deep lacerations, but the worst was across his neck where a Thrall had almost completely ripped his throat out. His face was a frozen mask of pain and fear, and he'd been gone long enough to go stiff, so there was no way to close his blank eyes. She forced the bile rising in her throat and the tears pricking at her eyes back to try and recover what she could. </span>
  <em>
    <span>We always said let nothing go to waste.</span>
  </em>
  <span> She collected the gun he'd taken, though the box of ammo he brought was completely empty. His old coat was shredded as badly as hers was and he hadn't brought anything else that was salvageable except... </span>
  <em>
    <span>Oh. Oh, Ewan. </span>
  </em>
  <span>It glinted under the ash and blood and the tears that had been threatening to escape finally spilled over, cutting tracks through the grime on her face. </span>
  <em>
    <span>His wedding ring. </span>
  </em>
  <span>She pulled it gently from his hand, pressed her forehead to his, and held the ring against her chest while her quiet sobs wracked her body in the darkness. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>She didn't have much time to mourn, the sound of movement behind her bringing her back to full attention; hollow as she may have felt, she wasn't going to waste Ewan's sacrifice by dying that night. She whipped around to the source while she wiped the tears from her eyes and streaked damp Hive ash across her face. It was the Fallen Captain who apparently wasn't quite dead yet, although they didn't seem far from it. One of their legs looked to be broken and their armor was badly damaged, cracked in some places and almost completely gouged out in others. Ether rose like steam from some of the cracks and several tubes jutting out from their mask, and maroon blood oozed from their wounds as they shifted enough to lean up against a nearby crate. It would have been better for Maya to be the last one standing, and with her knife she could rectify that problem, although at that point she didn't really need to. It would have been so easy to leave them die, to go back to the cave, collect her things, and run. Against her better judgement, which at that point was probably off sulking in a distant corner of her mind, she stepped carefully across the battlefield to approach them. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"</span>
  <b>You walk before... Ateskriks, Baron of the... House of Devils. Before... you pick me over... like the foul carrion you are... you will first have to take from me... my last breath.</b>
  <span>" He snarled between labored gasps. </span>
  <em>
    <span>I think that's the gist of it. My Eliskni's a little rusty. </span>
  </em>
  <span>Judging by the way he tossed one of his swords down between them in challenge, it probably was. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Fuck, this guy is huge.</span>
  </em>
  <span> Even mostly dead, a Baron was a lot more dangerous than a Captain, and entirely capable of killing her with that snapped off sword before she could even get to the one he had tossed down. Not to mention she'd already had more than her fill of death. "</span>
  <b>Afraid, </b>
  <b>
    <em>ghoul</em>
  </b>
  <b>?</b>
  <span>" The Baron sneered then glanced pointedly down at Shawn's ring in her hand. "</span>
  <b>Will you... not steal... from one who can... fight?</b>
  <span>" he wheezed.  </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“One who can fight' might be kind of a stretch, buddy. 'One who's got one last good swing in him' is probably closer.” She muttered dryly and then made up her mind. Maya kicked the sword aside, then did her best in halting Eliksni, "</span>
  <b>Not stolen. Was belong to my partner. Will not fight you.</b>
  <span>" She kneeled down next to him and dug out the first aid kit, swatting away the weak hand that tried to raise his other sword to her. He may have actually had the strength to insist, but after a moment of hesitation he lowered his weapon and looked down at her. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"</span>
  <b>...why?</b>
  <span>" </span>
</p>
<p><span>"</span><b>Enough death this day. Am not ghoul, just human.</b> <b>Alone, die. Together, might not die.</b><span>" She explained simply. "</span><b>More...</b><span>" she paused. </span><em><span>Aw, hell, what was their word for Hive? Dammit, that was an important one, fuck I’m rusty.</span></em><span> Maya settled for pointing at the dead Knight's discarded helmet rather than wrack her brain further. "</span><b>More </b><b><em>them</em></b><b>. Ship fell nearby. Hide. Recover. Try escape?</b><span>" She wrapped some duct tape around a couple of the ether leaks on a tube attached to his mask. "</span><b>Little knowledge for armor fix. You need teach.</b><span>" </span></p>
<p>
  <span>"</span>
  <b>Your Eliksni is terrible. You sound like a child and your accent is ridiculous.</b>
  <span>" Ateskriks said, snatching the tape and a few bandages from her hands. He seemed to be breathing better with the admittedly temporary patches. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"Yeah yeah, I'm doing my best, jackass. My job was to understand it, not speak it. You try telling me your English is any better." She dug out more bandages. "Can you walk if I help you?" </span>
  <em>
    <span>I really don't want to carry a 7-foot-tall alien a mile through the woods on a half-ass stretcher without help. Shit, will he even fit in the cave?</span>
  </em>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>"</span>
  <b>A fair point.</b>
  <span>" He said after a long enough pause to make Maya wonder if he hadn't understood her. "</span>
  <b>Use your own tongue as I will use mine.</b>
  <span>" After a brief moment of her mind veering off into territory she really wished it hadn't gone anywhere near, she nodded. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Never gonna get that image out of my head. Ugh. ...Do Eliksni even have tongues? I don’t think so, I think it’s like eels. Two sets of jaws. Eugh.</span>
  </em>
  <span> She shook off the thought. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"Right. We can translate as we go." she said. "And I'll ask again, can you walk? Do you need help? I've got a place to rest up about a mile from here." The Baron hesitated for a moment, clearly loathe to rely on her in any way. "Listen, I'm not gonna let your pride get us killed. I'll drag your ass back by your damn cape if I have to. Or I could just ditch you if that suits you better." </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"</span>
  <b>Leg is damaged, I will need support. Hand me that spear, and that </b>
  <b>
    <em>thing's</em>
  </b>
  <b> sword.</b>
  <span>" He grunted, pushed himself up into a mostly upright position, and leaned heavily on the crate he'd been slumped up against. "</span>
  <b>Hive will track us. They can smell the ashes and it will frenzy them.</b>
  <span>" </span>
  <em>
    <span>Right, that was the word. Wait, SHIT. </span>
  </em>
  <span>She glanced back at the path that Ewan and the Hive had cut through the forest on their way up and thought for a moment. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"We can follow the trail of corpses to try to disguise the scent and cover our tracks. Do you know how to clean this shit off after that?" Maya passed him the spear, which he held onto with both right arms to keep balanced, then the sword, which she was more than happy to relinquish. The thing felt </span>
  <em>
    <span>wrong </span>
  </em>
  <span>in her hands, like her skin would rot down to the bone from just being near it too long. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"</span>
  <b>With fire.</b>
  <span>" He said with a harsh hacking noise. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Was that a laugh? </span>
  </em>
  <span>"</span>
  <b>Collect what you can carry, but best to choose what looks cleanest. I will need new armor. As will you if you are to survive.</b>
  <span>" That surprised her. Admittedly the Fallen were notorious for being ruthless scavengers, but the offer was unexpected, especially given the significance of their armor. She wasn't so sure she'd give the same courtesy to him if he wanted something from what was left of Ewan. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"If you're sure you're okay with that." She stepped carefully around a pile of more heavily ashed bodies, doing her best not to kick up more than she had to. Ateskriks followed her as best he could and pointed out things for her to grab. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"</span>
  <b>That chestplate. If it is any comfort, I plan to take it back from your corpse once these vermin have been dealt with.</b>
  <span>" He growled. </span>
  <em>
    <span>I'm not at all surprised, but way to be a jackass about it.</span>
  </em>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>"Hm, my Eliksni's a little rusty. Was that 'take it and leave me behind?' Cause that's about what it sounded like to me." She threatened. He started to translate in rough English before she interrupted, getting in his face as best as she could at a two-foot disadvantage. "Stop, I was being facetious. I know exactly what you said, and I will not hesitate to leave you for dead if you keep it up with that attitude. I'm wasting my supplies and my time keeping myself exposed out here and I'd appreciate, if not some goddamn gratitude, then at least a </span>
  <em>
    <span>little </span>
  </em>
  <span>less hostility because I will absolutely cut you loose and leave if I have to." A tense beat passed while she realized again that, even half dead, he could absolutely murder the hell out of her. </span>
  <em>
    <span>He can bet his scaly ass I'd go down swinging, though. </span>
  </em>
  <span>Her outburst seemed to have stunned him enough to keep him from recognizing that fact, or maybe he hadn't quite caught all of what she said with as quickly as she had gone off. Regardless, he just nodded and nudged another body for her to pick clean. "It's getting dark, I can't carry much more without being slowed down, and I don't know how long it's gonna take for more Hive to get here, so this is gonna have to be the last one." </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"</span>
  <b>Hand more to me. I will need more ether to speed my recovery.</b>
  <span>" He held out his lower right hand to take some of what she'd salvaged while she pulled one of her arrows from a nearby crate. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"You can barely stand on your own, I'll load the bag up and then I'll see if I can come back later." She scoffed. "And like I said, it's not just what I can carry, it's how much time we have." He reached down and snatched the bag from her hands with a grunt. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"</span>
  <b>Yes, I know. They will take the bodies when they arrive and take or destroy the supplies as well. Hand me more.</b>
  <span>" Ateskriks hissed. Maya's stomach twisted at the idea of those </span>
  <em>
    <span>things</span>
  </em>
  <span> getting their claws on her husband. She bit her lip in tense thought while she glanced around the clearing. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"We could burn the bodies," she offered, certain that he didn't like the idea of his compatriots' remains being dragged off either. "Keep the Hive from taking them, and the smoke might draw them off long enough for us to get some distance." </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"</span>
  <b>A brilliant plan. Burn down the entire forest to cover our tracks.</b>
  <span>" he said sharply. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Huh. Didn't know the Fallen did sarcasm.</span>
  </em>
  <span> Ateskriks stopped and tilted his head thoughtfully. After a brief pause he kicked open a nearby cache and started pulling out boxes. "</span>
  <b>Take two of these boxes, I will set the rest of these while you collect your weapons. Primitive as they are.</b>
  <span>" </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"Listen, I don't wanna hear it from the guy who brought a knife to a gun fight." </span>
  <em>
    <span>Admittedly I don't wanna know how many people have died on those swords, but obviously I'm no slouch either. Dick. </span>
  </em>
  <span>"What am I hauling here anyway?" She asked and took the boxes he held out. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"</span>
  <b>Mines.</b>
  <span>" He said, groaning slightly as he leaned down to set one near another box of explosives. "</span>
  <b>Let them lose as much as they try to take. Collect your things quickly, unless you wish to suffer their fate.</b>
  <span>" Maya set their haul down next to where she'd been hiding off in the trees earlier. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"Hold up a minute, hand me one of those," she said, "I wanna set a couple." She picked a few out of the open box and stepped carefully through the grid that Ateskriks had already laid, briefly marveling at how quickly he had managed it in his state. She knelt down next to Ewan, rolling him over long enough to arm one of the mines, then quickly set it before she laid him back down on top of it. Maya straightened up to find Ateskriks staring at her, face completely unreadable under the mask. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Not that the mask actually makes much difference, it’s not like I make a habit of striking up extended conversation with Fallen. Mostly just “Oh shit!” and then run.</span>
  </em>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>"</span>
  <b>Clever. You know it will rip the remains apart, yes?</b>
  <span>" He asked. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"I'm not stupid, I know how mines work." She snapped. "It'll just mean there's less for them to take. Provided they survive the surprise." Maya didn't like it, but the alternative made her gut churn just thinking about it. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Much as I’d like to bury him properly, at least I can think of this as a Viking funeral.</span>
  </em>
  <span> Ateskriks' gaze lingered on her for a moment before imitating the tactic with one of his fallen Vandals, and then a couple of Dregs. "We should leave a few on the trail behind us, but it's getting dark and we need to go." Another Wizard's shriek echoed way off in the distance. "Now." </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"</span>
  <b>...Very well. Lead the way, human.</b>
  <span>" </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>********* </span>
</p>
<p><span>Maya hissed as she peeled off her shredded jacket. Shock and adrenaline had long worn off by the time they made it back to the cave and her arms felt like they were going to fall off from the damage that the Thrall had done. Frankly it was a miracle that nothing important had been severed and that she hadn't bled out. Her new "friend"</span> <span>watched her with mild disinterest as he tended to his own wounds. The pile of armor and weapons they'd reclaimed "cooked" in a low fire in one of the back chambers to burn away the Hive ash while they recovered. She carefully picked out bits of fabric that stuck to her wounds and dug out the first aid kit and the big bottle of moonshine from the duffel bag, then set them next to the water she'd boiled and let cool. She gritted her teeth as she washed the worst of the blood away with the warm water, then took a long swig off of the moonshine and poured it over the cuts, cursing in rapid Italian while she did so. Ateskriks stopped what he was doing and stared. </span><em><span>I think he's staring. I don't think I've ever seen a Fallen blink.</span></em> <em><span>Do they even have eyelids?</span></em></p>
<p>
  <span>"Got something to say, big guy?" Maya asked dryly. She went over her arms again with the warm water and patted them dry with another clean rag. He stared a little longer at the bottle next to her. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"</span>
  <b>You </b>
  <b>
    <em>drink </em>
  </b>
  <b>that?</b>
  <span>" He gestured to the moonshine, his voice equal parts disgust and awe. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"Yeah? It's a family recipe, we've been making this stuff longer than the last City has been around." She shrugged and then winced as the gashes throbbed again. "Grandad said the recipe was from even before the Golden Age, but I'm not sure I believe that." </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"</span>
  <b>You killed a Wizard with it. After lighting it </b>
  <b>
    <em>on fire.</em>
  </b>
  <span>" Ateskriks said, clearly mildly horrified. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"Technically I killed it with the bowie knife." She replied and dug out the bigger first aid kit. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"</span>
  <b>And now you pour it on your wounds?</b>
  <span>" He had set down his own supplies and was at that point openly gawking at her. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"Best disinfectant I've got on hand. Are you going somewhere with this?" She asked irritably. "I've gotta stitch these up next and I'm really not looking forward to it." </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"</span>
  <b>It's </b>
  <b>
    <em>poison.</em>
  </b>
  <b> How are you not dead?</b>
  <span>" He asked incredulously. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"Small doses just make us woozy, it’s why we like it. It's only lethal in massive amounts anyway, especially in my case cause I’ve got a high tolerance. Otherwise it helps dull the nerves and take the edge off. And since the proper painkillers,” she rattled a bottle of aspirin for emphasis then tossed it back into the kit, “are for emergencies only, I'm using the moonshine." </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"</span>
  <b>...Take the edge off what?</b>
  <span>" He was clearly unfamiliar with the metaphor, but Maya was out of patience and didn’t feel like explaining at length. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"Of the shitshow day that I've just had, now can I </span>
  <em>
    <span>please</span>
  </em>
  <span> stitch myself in peace?!" She snapped. After a tense moment Ateskriks went back to what he was doing, but still kept two eyes cast in her direction. She glared back and eventually rolled her eyes when he didn’t look away, then picked out one of the sterilized needles and a spool of nylon thread. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Fuck. Horizontal mattress stitch is probably gonna be my best bet. Hate that goddamn stitch.</span>
  </em>
  <span> She yanked out a section of leather from her destroyed coat. After another long pull from the bottle to keep her hands from shaking, she folded and bit down on the shred and then set to work, hissing and cursing into the hide as the needle and thread slid through her skin and tugged the first gash steadily shut. After seven stitches, she inspected her handiwork; not as neat as it could have been but given the circumstances, it was good enough for her.</span>
  <em>
    <span> One down, nine more to go.</span>
  </em>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>About halfway through the third wound, Ateskriks spoke back up: "</span>
  <b>Your stitches are sloppy.</b>
  <span>" Maya spit the leather back out. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"Ex</span>
  <em>
    <span>cuse </span>
  </em>
  <span>me</span>
  <em>
    <span>?</span>
  </em>
  <span> I'm doing this one handed, tying the knots with my goddamn teeth, </span>
  <em>
    <span>on myself.</span>
  </em>
  <span> Unless you're offering to do it better, I don't wanna hear it." Maya damn near shouted at him, her angry gestures turned to awkward flailing by how shaky her hands actually were. Ateskriks rose to his feet and closed the distance between them remarkably fast despite his broken leg and Maya’s free hand instinctively dropped to the hunting knife at her side. Before she could ready it, he’d seized both her wrists and leaned in close. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“</span>
  <b>Put the weapon down and stop screeching, unless you want me to kill you before you can draw the Hive to us.</b>
  <span>” He growled in her face. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Good fucking luck. I came into this world screaming and covered in someone else’s blood, don't think for a second I'm not afraid to go out the same fucking way.” Maya spat right back and twisted her wrist out of his grip to point the knife at his throat. “Now let me go before I make that ugly face a lot uglier.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Before she could react, he had knocked the knife from her hand, snatched away her needle and thread, and had dropped the bottle of moonshine and scrap of leather into her lap.  </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“</span>
  <b>Keep your mouth busy with these, I tire of hearing you whine.</b>
  <span>” He dropped down next to her and held her arm steady at the wrist and shoulder with his lower set of hands. He set to finishing the stitches on wound number three with nearly expert skill. “</span>
  <b>You will be of more use alive than dead. We will destroy the Hive Seeder or die trying.</b>
  <span>” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Uh. </span>
  <em>
    <span>What.</span>
  </em>
  <span>” Maya stared at him, dumbfounded. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Not kill you today. We fight Hive. Destroy ship. We live, kill you after.” Ateskriks managed haltingly while he continued stitching. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“…wow, your English is worse than my Eliksni. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Ow, jackass!</span>
  </em>
  <span>” She kicked out at him as best as she could after he jabbed one of her stitched wounds with one clawed finger, clearly not appreciative of her comment. </span>
  <em>
    <span>God you’re lucky I don't wanna risk wasting booze or I’d clock you with the goddamn bottle. </span>
  </em>
  <span>“And I understood you fine, but you must be fucking insane if you think I’m going back there to pick a fight with the Hive, especially with </span>
  <em>
    <span>you</span>
  </em>
  <span> as my only backup!”  </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“</span>
  <b>You doubt my capability?</b>
  <span>” He asked, gripping her arm more securely while he went back to patching her up. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You hiding an army under that cape somewhere? Even if you are, I know </span>
  <em>
    <span>my</span>
  </em>
  <span> capability! What happened back there was luck and surprise. I only survived because I was too fuckin mad to lose.” Maya took another pull off the moonshine. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“</span>
  <b>Then stay angry. And stop shouting.</b>
  <span>” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I'm only gonna do one of those things, and I don't plan on calming down!” She spat at him. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“</span>
  <b>Then I will kill you and destroy them myself.</b>
  <span>” He said simply. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I say no, you kill me. I say yes, I get ripped to pieces by Hive. I survive that, you kill me anyway. So fuck you, I'm gonna end up dead regardless.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“</span>
  <b>If you must die, die for something worthy. As your lifemate did.</b>
  <span>” Anger flared in Maya’s gut and her eyes prickled with angry tears. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Shut the hell up! You don't know a goddamn thing about Ewan!” She swung the bottle at Ateskriks' head only to have him catch her by the wrist. He held her steady and stared her down. From an outside perspective, the tangle of limbs might have even been comical. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“</span>
  <b>I know it died fighting alongside my unit. It tried to warn us, then stood and fought when we were overtaken. It could have fled and left the Hive to rip us apart. Your ‘Yoowen’ died trying to save my second in command. Ultimately futile, but a worthy effort.</b>
  <span>” He explained and released her hand. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Ewan, you stupid, idealistic bastard... </span>
  </em>
  <span>“</span>
  <b>You disbelieve this.</b>
  <span>”  </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“…no. No, I don't. That sounds like him.” Maya scrubbed the tears from her eyes. “He was always a better person than me. But I’m not gonna waste his sacrifice by jumping into a suicide mission because you think you can scare me into it." </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“</span>
  <b>As you said, you will die anyway. Will you die avenging your mate, or will you die in your petty attempt to spite me? Which is the true waste?</b>
  <span>” he asked, returning to stitching her arm up. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"Fine. I'll think about it." Maya huffed. She didn’t like it, but there was no way Bunkertown could withstand the Hive, even if they knew they were coming. Still, fate could’ve offered better company for the ride. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"</span>
  <b>So long as you do so quietly.</b>
  <span>" </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"Ha! Unlikely." </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"</span>
  <b>Drink your poison.</b>
  <span>" He griped. She raised the bottle to her lips at his first good suggestion yet, but then lowered it again.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"Tempting, but I should stop. I'd prefer not to bleed out and undo all this hard work." Maya said.</span>
  <em>
    <span> That rules out the aspirin too.</span>
  </em>
  <span> "Actually, speaking of this hard work..." Ateskriks’ clicked his mandible, obviously not thrilled with her still talking. "Hey, I'm a chatty drunk, deal with it." </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"</span>
  <b>A what?</b>
  <span>" Ateskriks asked and motioned for her to give him her other arm. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"Chatty, meaning talkative, and that's how I get when I'm drunk. At least when I drink the family brew, different stuff affects us different ways." Maya stopped herself before she got off track babbling about the minutiae of alcohol consumption. "Anyway, back to what I was saying. How'd you get so good at stitching like this? I've known humans who were garbage at it; tied it off too tight and made the skin go necrotic or too loose so it didn't close right and scarred up bad." </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"</span>
  <b>When I was young, I worked under our House's </b>
  <b>
    <em>jakseertas</em>
  </b>
  <b>.</b>
  <span>" He started. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"Jakseertas?" Maya asked. </span>
  <em>
    <span>I know 'tas', that has to do with learning. </span>
  </em>
  <span>"I don't know that one." Ateskriks paused like he was figuring out how to phrase it. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"Study alien life, learn what of use to Eliksni, what to kill, how to kill it. What we took not always dead. Also learned what creatures could survive what wounds and pain." He explained.  </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"...equal parts xenobiologists and torture specialists. Charming." Maya's stomach churned. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"</span>
  <b>Occasially specimens would be in short supply. I learned from my teachers how to make them last before I was old enough to join our army.</b>
  <span>" He caught the look on Maya's face and how the color had drained from it. "</span>
  <b>You find it unsavory. Was your City too </b>
  <b>
    <em>noble</em>
  </b>
  <b> to do the same to their alien enemies?</b>
  <span>” Ateskriks asked with another disapproving click of his mandibles. She remembered running across the old anatomy reports in the Cryptarchy's collection while trying to research Eliksni language and her gut twisted again as moonshine threatened to bounce back up. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"No. No, we weren't. I studied language and codes, I never had the stomach for that sort of thing, even if the research </span>
  <em>
    <span>was </span>
  </em>
  <span>a few hundred years old." She quietly confessed.  </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"</span>
  <b>You dislike death. That is more likely to kill you than I am.</b>
  <span>" He sneered. Maya glared at him. "</span>
  <b>If you try to hit me with your poison again, I will rip these out and you can do them yourself.</b>
  <span>" She paused for a moment to weigh her options, then tossed the bottle back into the big duffel bag. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"It's not like it makes me hesitate. I just... feel bad afterwards." She grumbled. "And clearly you're benefiting, so I don't want to hear it." </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"</span>
  <b>My only benefit will be crushing your skull under my foot and then forgetting your face after we have destroyed the Hive and I have returned to my ketch.</b>
  <span>" </span>
  <em>
    <span>Jackass...</span>
  </em>
  <span> Ateskriks finished and released her arm and she inspected her stitches.</span>
  <em>
    <span> Jesus, I've practiced that stitch more times than I can count and these ones look better than I ever managed.</span>
  </em>
  <span> She dug out an old hand mirror, some more gauze, and some duct tape for the gash on her face. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"Big fuckin ray of sunshine, aren't you? Hope you like delayed gratification, cause it's gonna be at least a week before these are healed up enough for me to fight." Maya said while she taped the gauze into place. "In the meantime, you need any help setting that leg? Or getting that big cut on your back, cause that one looks nasty." She looked over her own handiwork.</span>
  <em>
    <span> The duct tape and gauze ain’t the best bandage, but given the choice between that or facial stitches applied by either my drunk ass or tall, dark, and dickhead... Gonna be a bitch and a half to sleep on, but good enough.</span>
  </em>
  <span> "Once we're done we should sleep in shifts. You want first or second watch?" He growled and seemed to debate with himself before he started unlatching his chestplate. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"</span>
  <b>I will fix my own leg. You repair my back like...</b>
  <span>" Ateskriks gestured to the duct tape on her face, "</span>
  <b>that. Wash with water first, then align the plates before securing them. Then give that to me and I will finish my own wounds while you sleep.</b>
  <span>" He gingerly shrugged off his armor, revealing a dark purple-gray carapace covering most of his body peppered with old gouges and scars, now cracked and split in several places across his chest and arms. Between the plates and across his neck and shoulders, she could see ruddy brown skin scarred, bruised, and bleeding in more places than not.  </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Maya scooted around behind him so she could get to the wound on his back from the Hive Knight's sword and she sucked in a sharp breath through her teeth. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Jesus fuck, how can this guy even move?</span>
  </em>
  <span> The gash ran from just under his right shoulder to just above his left hip, deep enough that it would have completely severed his spine if he were human. Instead, the chitinous plates had been cracked in multiple places and were oozing maroon blood where the scabs had pulled apart from his shifting. Maya steeled herself, picked up a clean rag and the other pot of water she'd boiled, and set to work. He grunted and shifted as she cleaned the wound; she wasn't actively trying to hurt him, but admittedly she wasn't exactly trying to be gentle either. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Fair's fair and I'm entitled to a little spite if this bastard's gonna kill me anyway.</span>
  </em>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>She dropped the rag into the pot once she was done washing and unwound a length of gauze, then laid out a slightly longer strip of tape. Maya twisted the gauze and laid it down the center of the tape, then secured one end just above the wound on his back. Ateskriks occasionally growled and clicked as she fell into the rhythm of pressing the tape into place on one side, aligning the plates, and then smoothing the other side down, inch by inch down and across his back. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>By the time Maya finished, Ateskriks had successfully set and braced his leg and was clearly getting impatient with her. He snatched the supplies from her hands and stalked out towards the entrance of the cave with the Hive sword and a line rifle in hands. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"You sure you don't need any more help?" She asked before he got completely out of sight. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"</span>
  <b>Go sleep. I will wake you when it is your watch.</b>
  <span>" He answered curtly and then vanished around the corner. </span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Guess who's starting another multichapter they'll probably never finish!</p>
<p>I'm so sorry.</p></blockquote></div></div>
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